Pilani Shridhar University Celebrates National Youth Day - Swami Vivekanand Jayanti

Online, January 13, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The birthday of Swami Vivekananda who was born on January 12, 1863 and became immortal on July 4, 1902 is observed all over India as National Youth Day. A quote attributed to Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore goes as "If you want to know India, study Vivekananda".

He played a stellar role in ending India's cultural isolation from the rest of the world thus becoming India's first great cultural ambassador to the West. His famous speech at the World Parliament of Religions, Chicago on September 11, 1893 continues to inspire generations even after a century. As much as he wanted the westerners to learn spirituality from the Indians, he wanted Indians to learn from westerners not only science and technology but also humanism by adopting ideas of individual freedom, social equality and justice and respect for women.

He was the one who brought out that religion which is indeed the Science of Consciousness is as scientific as science itself and established that religion and science are not contradictory to each other but are complementary.

His concept of potential divinity of the soul gave a new approach of spiritual humanism to prevent societal degradation and make life meaningful and worth living. He gave a new theory of ethics and new principle of morality based on the intrinsic purity and oneness of the soul. The Harvard philosopher William James called Swami Vivekananda as the "paragon of Vedantists."

Beyond doubt the five ingredients for anyone to be top ranking are Positive Attitude, Clear Objectives, Faith in Action, Creative Vision & Team Work. The relevance of Swami Vivekananda for an educational institution is best understood by the quote of Swamiji "We want that Education, by which Character is Formed, Strength of Mind is Increased, the Intellect is Expanded, and by which one can stand on one's own feet."

On this occasion, on 12 Jan 2012 Prof BR Natarajan Pro Vice Chancellor addressing the faculty of Shridhar University in the Lecture Theatre shared the above details and urged them to take inspiration from the teachings of Swami Vivekananda and make the world at large a better place to live.

Considering that Shridhar University Pilani within a short span of time has attracted students not only from Rajasthan but also from various states of India which include Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttarakhand, Prof Natarjan pointed that every festival at the university is indeed celebrating diversity in Unity.

Later in the evening Prof Natarajan and Prof Tarun Roy Choudhury took a team of Shridhar University students to Khetri Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Smriti Mandir and interacted with Swami Atmanishthananda for involving faculty and students in various voluntary social activities and school reach programs.